Description

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Samuel Smiles published his “Lives of the Engineers” in 1862, presenting engineers as heroic characters, conquering nature and often overcoming impossible problems on their way to success. He also invented much of it, so while an interesting historical document, it must be taken with a pinch of salt. Anthony Burton has turned his attention to a new book collating the lives of the great engineers of the 18th and 19th centuries, the extraordinary men who made the industrial revolution possible. This definitive study investigates the common themes that run between each man’s story, and how they learned from one another, truly standing on the shoulders of giants. This book presents ten incredible engineers: Jack Metcalf, James Brindley, John Smeaton, William Jessop, John Rennie, Thomas Telford, James Watt, Richard Trevithick, George and Robert Stephenson, and Isambard Brunel.

About the Author

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Anthony Burton is an author specialising in the history of technology and transport. His books for The History Press include The Anatomy of Canals, The Iron Men, Navvies, and The Workers’ War. Other books include biographies of Thomas Telford, Richard Trevithick, George and Robert Stephenson and Marc and Isambard Brunel. He has been involved in over 100 TV documentaries, half as writer/presenter and others as historical adviser, and appeared as a guest expert on Coast, Reel History and Big, Bigger, Biggest. He lives in Stroud.